


would you lie with me and just forget the world?

by jemmasimmons



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, fitzsimmons feels all round, fluff i guess???, i love these babies so much hOLD ME, idk what to take this as, this is all shay's fault blame shay for this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 10:24:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4056526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jemmasimmons/pseuds/jemmasimmons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fitz couldn’t quite believe it when she stood there. Two whole weeks later, she was actually really there. Jemma Simmons. Her shoulders may have been slumped, her eyes heavy and her face pale – a contortion of emotion - but she was right there. Fitz had to pinch himself just to make sure.<br/>-<br/>Post 2x22, in which Jemma Simmons returns from having been eaten by the alien rock.</p>
            </blockquote>





	would you lie with me and just forget the world?

**Author's Note:**

> \+ i wrote an almost 3.7k fic in two days im so proud of me you have no idea.
> 
> \+ also, this is all shay's fault. blame shay as it is seriously her fault.
> 
> \+ title is taken from chasing cars by snow patrol as i listened to the sleeping at last cover of this song on loop whilst writing this fic, so enjoy!!
> 
> \+ (also this is unbeta'd so apologies)

Fitz couldn’t quite believe it when she stood there. Two whole weeks later, she was actually really there. Jemma Simmons. Her shoulders may have been slumped, her eyes heavy and her face pale – a contortion of emotion - but she was right there. Fitz had to pinch himself just to make sure.

Jemma began to survey the room, and her lip began to curl as she began to recognise the last thing she saw before being swallowed by, whatever the hell that rock was. She didn’t take much notice of the guns pointed at her immediately, but gradually as reality seeped in she took a step back and raised her hands as a sign of peace.

Coulson was the first to speak, “Agent Simmons.” His gun was still raised.

“Sir,” her voice was laced with emotion.

Coulson lowered his gun slightly, but Jemma’s hands still remained raised. His demeanour quickly shifted from one that was stern to one that could be considered full of relief. “Welcome back.”

Tears started to tumble down Jemma’s cheeks as she watched the guns move from her direction. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as the guns were put away and her arms dropped down to her sides. She scanned the room once more and when she found exactly what she was looking for, she felt a pure rush of emotion crash into her – something she’d only felt once before.

Fitz took a step forward from out of the crowd. It wasn’t a dream, he thought with a grin slapped onto his face. She was back. She was okay.

He wanted to run to her, wrap her in his arms and never let her go. He wanted to tell her that this wasn’t a dream either, and that she was really home and that he was so sorry for what he did. But most importantly, Fitz had wanted to take her on a date like he’d promised. He didn’t take himself up in a mirror for hours for it to result to nothing.

However, his dreams halted before they had barely even begun.

May held out her arm and used a soft but sincere tone to order Fitz to stand down. “You know the protocol, Fitz.” He did. That realisation made his heart sink.

 

*

 

They took Jemma to quarantine almost immediately, but not before Coulson ordered Fitz out of the room to avoid him doing something rash and stupid – which was not a bad call he had to admit, but one that angered him nonetheless.

It wasn’t until much later that day he was allowed to see her, and by then he had already wound Mack to breaking point with his consistent tapping. So he was relieved to see Fitz go when he was finally given the all clear to see Simmons. He gave a small chuckle as he watched Fitz race out of the door. _Love,_ he thought, before shaking his head and returning to his work.

May greeted first before he approached Jemma. She wore a smile – which under different circumstances would have probably alarmed him, but at this point he was too preoccupied to care. She squeezed his shoulder as she passed; “She’s all yours.”

Fitz’s heart raced as he approached the glass room – quarantine. He hadn’t been anywhere near the room ever since Skye was in there, and had not intended to go back there either. But here he was, pretty much running to greet his (almost) lost best friend and nearly losing his footing in the process.

Jemma didn’t look up at first. Fitz didn’t understand why, but later she would tell him that she thought that he was another doctor waiting to do another round of tests on her.

When she finally did glance upwards for a second, she had to do a double take before realising that the person on the other side of the glass was Fitz – who was probably just as happy to see her as she was him. The sight of Fitz gave her a small spark of energy, letting her jump off of her bed (although not literally) and approach the glass with a quiet yet emotional, “Hello Fitz.” She paused, “Is that really you?”

“Of course it is,” he beamed back, trying to downplay the erupting happiness he felt when it came to her existence. “Who else would it be?” Relief spread across Jemma’s face. After a brief silence, he asked her if she was okay, hating how he stuttered along the way.

Jemma gave a slight nod. She held her hands by her front, pressing her thumbs into her palms. “Good as I can be I suppose, given the circumstances.” She let out a shaky sigh, “It’s a shame really. I was looking forward to dinner.”

Fitz began to beam, “Yeah?” but soon realised what he was doing and decided it downplay it a little. “I mean, yeah. Me too. I had a place set out and everything.”

“You did?”

“Mmmmm.”

“Where?”

Fitz’s smile became rather sly, “Well that would ruin the surprise, wouldn’t it?”

Jemma looked away bashfully, still playing with her thumbs. “Shame I had to miss it,” she mumbled hoping that Fitz wouldn’t hear her. Unfortunately for her, he did and he felt as if a breath of wind had just been knocked out of him.

“Jemma,” Fitz breathed but he knew it was useless. Nothing could change what happened, he knew that better than anyone. Although, one thing he could change was the future – or at least try to anyway. “Give me twenty minutes.”

Jemma shook her head, not quite catching up to his speed. “What?”

“Twenty minutes,” he repeated as he started to bounce on his heels in anticipation. “Don’t go anywhere.”

Jemma scoffed, “Not like I have much of a choice.”

With that, Fitz raced out of the lab. He returned twenty minutes later as he had promised, his arms full with what appeared to be sandwiches and something that look suspicious like candles.

 “Fitz,” Jemma raised an eyebrow, “what’s this?”

Her eyes searched him for an answer and he willingly gave it up. Though not before he had spread out what did eventually did turn out to be candles in front of the quarantine area and sat in front of the glass to face Jemma.

“Well,” he began softly, “we never really had a chance to go on our date. So…” his voice trailed off and his head hung a little, trying to avoid Jemma’s gaze. Though if he had been looking, he would’ve seen the unforgettable grin that grew across the face of his best friend. “It’s not exactly what I had planned but –“

“It’s perfect,” she interjected.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Jemma was tearing up a smidge at this point, though she did her best to try and hide it. He would only worry otherwise. “Thank you, Fitz.”

He gave her a small smile and a small nod, and she expected nothing less. With her grin still permanently fixated to her face, she began to tuck into her meal – a sandwich handmade by the man she supposed she should now call her boyfriend. She couldn’t deny that the thought of that gave her butterflies, never mind the reality.

Admittedly, it had been awkward at first. The pair had both been out of the dating game for a while, but added with the fact that they were dating each other – something they both never imagined in their wildest dreams – added to the large knot they were already feeling in the pit of their stomachs. But in due time, things began to iron out.

Every now and then, they would steal glances at each other. Sometimes they would catch one another in the act, but sometimes the other would be oblivious, leaving them to stare in complete wonderment at them. _It’s real_ , they would tell themselves. _Oh God, it’s real,_ and they would shyly continue to eat their food whilst smiling quietly to themselves.

Jemma was the one who eventually broke the silence between them. “Thank you,” she told him again, “it was delicious.”

Fitz nodded, “I could’ve done better. This was all we had left, and May hasn’t had a chance –“

“Fitz,” she silenced him again. “It was delicious. Truly.”

He didn’t hang his head immediately this time. Fitz held her gaze for a second, watching Jemma’s smile grow with each second before hanging his head and producing a bashful smile of his own.

Jemma shuffled herself closer to the glass whilst Fitz wasn’t looking, or pretending he wasn’t anyway. She didn’t know what to with herself in the beginning, putting it down to first date nerves (and granted, this wasn’t just any first date), but soon after much fidgeting and uncomfortable silences Jemma eventually settled for simply placing her hand on the glass that separated the two of them. Granted, it was simple and albeit rather cliché, but she didn’t care.

It took a second for Fitz to realise what she was doing (he had been playing with the lighter next to him to help ease some of the bounds of nervous energy he had). Jemma was looking directly at him, studying him like she always did, but only this time with tears beginning to stream lightly down her cheeks. Oh Jemma, he thought to himself.

Fitz placed his hand on the glass, just on the spot where Jemma’s was. His hand was bigger than hers, causing it to get lost on Fitz’s side of the glass but Jemma’s didn’t mind. She was just glad he got the sign.

“You’re gonna be fine,” Fitz told her. His words were blunt.

She tried to hold by the streams that just kept coming, but it was little use. “I know. Besides,” she gave a small shrug, “it’s not like this is my first time in quarantine after all.”

Jemma didn’t know what she expected Fitz’s reaction to be, so when he told her again that she was going to be fine with the same blunt sincerity as before, she couldn’t help but feel butterflies rise in her stomach – shortly followed by the tightening of the knot that also happened to be there. She wanted to stay positive and say she was going to be fine, but the voice in the back of her head had other plans. Last time, she had nearly died. Last time she nearly wasn’t fine. Last time… she didn’t want to think about it anymore. But one she had learned from that and from all her experiences at SHIELD were that there were no guarantees in this world, so she couldn’t believe she was going to be fine just yet.

Instead of arguing with Fitz on the matter, she rested her head against the glass – her palm still pressed against his. Fitz watched her as she did, not taking her eyes off of her for a second. The overwhelming urge to hold her in his arms started to consume him, slowly and then all at once. He felt as if it were tearing him apart.

He wanted to tell her so many things. He wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay, but he didn’t think he could lie to her like that because in reality, he had no answer. So instead, he laid his head next to hers and laid with her like that for a while before he was eventually called away. But even after he was gone, Jemma laid by the glass, anxiously waiting for him to come back and do the same.

 

*

 

Fitz found it hard to sleep that night. The day had brought along an overwhelming cascade of emotions that he wasn’t totally prepared to process, and despite the early hour, his head was still racing.

 _Jemma is fine_ , he told himself. _She’ll be fine. She’ll be out of quarantine in no time and then… What? And then, what?_ the voice in the back of his head bit back. _What happens next?_

Fitz stared up at the ceiling of his bunk. His thumbs were constantly twirling around each other. Truthfully, he didn’t know. If he was being brutally honest, he didn’t have a damn clue where to begin an answer on that front. Not a damn clue.

He tried to comfort himself with the thought of Jemma’s quarantine being lifted, and how he could scoop her up into his arms like he’d wanted to ever since he’d discovered his feelings were reciprocated. However these images were short lived and were soon replaced by those of uncertainty, that Jemma wasn’t going to be fine and that the rock had done more to her than had met the eye. _What if -_

Fitz’s stomach churned. He had to see her.

 

*

 

Fitz was fairly surprised to find Jemma asleep when he wandered back to find her, although given the early hour he supposed he really shouldn’t have been. Fitz thought she almost looked relieved, even in her unconscious state. God knows how much sleep she’d gotten over the past two weeks (by the looks of things it wasn’t a lot).

He pulled up his chair from his desk and sat and watched her for a while, listening to the monitor rigidly to make sure that there was no irregularities whilst she slept. Even though she was right in front of him, Fitz could barely believe she was there. There was a point where he thought she was never going to come back; that she was gone forever and it was his stupid mistake that caused it. Fitz resented himself so much for that.

Jemma began to stir slightly in her sleep which Fitz sit up in his seat. Thankfully, it was nothing and after a brief groan she drifted straight back into a (hopefully) peaceful and deep sleep, allowing Fitz to sink back into his chair once more.

What he would have done if Jemma had never come back, Fitz doubted he’d ever know. Even if he didn’t want to hold her in my arms and caress her, she was still his best friend. A friendship that had lasted the best part of a decade was not something that could easily be erased. Though saying that, he had survived without her before – but he wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with the hallucinations again, even if they were alluring.

 _She’ll be fine,_ he repeated to himself. _Of course she will be._

His fingers tapped on the arm of the chair as he thought it. _Sure,_ he continued. _She’s back, she’s okay, and she’s going to be fine._

He took a breath. _She’ll be fine_ , he told himself one last time. _She has to be._

 

*

 

Thanks to the lack of disorganisation of the medical staff looking after Jemma, her quarantine was extended for another two days and another round of tests were ordered. When Coulson broke the news Fitz didn’t think Jemma could become any paler than she already had been, but as usual, she prove him wrong.

“That’s ridiculous,” he grumbled with a half shout. “This would have never happened if you were in charge.” Jemma watched him patiently as he paced up and down the quarantine area, his hands firmly placed on his hips. “There has to be some way they can speed up the tests.”

“Stop, Fitz,” her voice was quiet and almost a whisper. “These things happen. I’ll be fine.” She didn’t sound sure. She didn’t look it either.

Fitz continued to pace, much to Jemma’s – and everyone else’s – annoyance. He only stopped after Jemma asked him to – or to be more correct, shouted at him in a short burst of exasperation before crumpling onto her bed and avoiding his stares.

Fitz left for a while after that, and in a way Jemma was grateful. He was making her much more nervous than she wanted to be. However as time passed, she did miss his company (although she couldn’t help but admit that she did enjoy a small chat with Bobbi and Skye whilst he was gone).

He didn’t come back until later that evening, when most of the other agents had begun to settle down for the night. He seemed different to her this time, more on edge. Not that he wasn’t on edge, but this time there was a fire of determination behind his eyes.

“Fitz,” she shouted as he opened the door to the quarantine area with little regard to his own personal safety. “What are you doing? You can’t be in here!”

He didn’t take his eyes off of hers, trying to play down the overwhelming urge to grin. “It’s done, too late now.” Jemma’s face began to display an array of emotions, although Fitz couldn’t tell what emotions were on display at this point. “Just,” he couldn’t help but smirk at this point, “try and keep your hands off me, yeah?”

Jemma stared at him for a second. After a couple more, she began to laugh. It was a beautiful sound, Fitz thought to himself. A rarity these days and something he’d truly missed; his heart begin to leap erratically.

Her hands curled up by her sides as she took a step towards Fitz, followed by another and another until her arms were around him and she could finally pull him close to her like she’d be wanting to ever since she’d been gone. Her head buried itself in the crook of his neck and his hands held to pull her closer to him, before finding their way to Jemma’s head and caress her hair as she breathed on his neck.

It didn’t take Jemma long to start sobbing. Her breaths became shorter and more forceful, trying to hold back the tears he assumed. The wet feeling that began to seep through his shirt suggested otherwise.

Fitz leant his head on Jemma’s, pulling her as close to him as she possibly could, planting a kiss on the top of her head as he did. He would have been lying if he said he hadn’t been crying too. Jemma pulled him even closer to her.

Their sobs didn’t ease for a while, but even when they did neither of them wanted to break their embrace. So they stayed like that for a while, tightly wrapped up in each other’s arms in a way they’d done before but never imagined they would in a million years. They still couldn’t quite believe it. But in each other’s arms, neither of them regretted it. Not even for a second.

When their embrace finally did break, it wasn’t for long. They soon found themselves curled up on Jemma’s bed in the med bay, whispering and giggling each other as if it were like when they first became friends. Except it was different this time. A good different.

“How long was I gone?” Jemma asked, seemingly out of the blue.

She didn’t think that Fitz heard her the first time so she repeated the question again, but this time Fitz interrupted her, “Two weeks.”

“Really? It was that long?”

Fitz hated how her voice seemed to be laced with hurt. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “It was that long. Seemed much longer though.”

“I know the feeling,” Jemma mumbled in reply. Fitz was pretty sure he knew what she meant by that, so decided not to push the subject further. They’d both had their fair share of pain in their lives.

After a moment, Fitz decided to change the subject. “What was it like, in the rock?” He could feel her tense as he spoke and he immediately regretted his choice of subject. “You don’t have to answer, you know, if you don’t want to.” When she didn’t answer immediately Fitz began to ramble apologetically, and was only eventually silenced by Jemma’s hand reaching for his. She didn’t answer for a moment or two. She was gathering her thoughts, Fitz realised.

“It was weird,” she finally said. “I don’t know how to describe it. It wasn’t pleasant, to say the least.”

Fitz squeezed her hand. He’d dreaded as much. “Jemma, I’m –“

“Please. Don’t,” she interrupted. “It wasn’t your fault, Fitz. These things happen.”

He scoffed, “Being eaten by an alien rock isn’t exactly a daily occurrence, Jemma. If I hadn’t of played with that lock –“

Jemma began to stroke the back of his hand as he trailed off, lost in his own regret. “I know. I know. But I’m here now, right?”

She looked up to find him looking right back at him. “Yeah,” he said. “Thank God.” His heart fluttered as another smile broke across her face. “And,” he continued, brushing loose strands of hair from Jemma’s face, “if these results come back, and something’s not okay. Then we can deal with that together.”

Jemma was tearing up again. “Yeah?”

Another sly grin slipped onto Fitz’s face, “Yeah. Besides, you’ve been beside me the whole damn time, Jem. That’s not something I’m gonna take lightly.” The tears were streaming down her face now, and she tried to duck her head to make sure Fitz didn’t see but it was futile. He pulled her closer to him, letting her sob once more into his chest. “No matter what happens, you’re gonna be fine. I promise.”

 

*

 

May and Coulson found them the next morning, still curled up in each other’s arms. They seemed at peace – finally able to hold each other close in a way they’d both longed to for a considerable amount of time.

Traces of a smile could be found on both of their faces as they discovered the pair, prompting them to leave almost as quickly as they came in.

“Told you so,” a smug May told Coulson, who scoffed in retaliation.

“Good job Jemma’s clear,” he replied. “Two dead agents would look bad on my record.”

May rolled her eyes at his remark. She glanced back at both Fitz and Simmons, who were still curled up in each other’s arms, just before she left. The news could wait, she thought. Some things were more important.


End file.
